


Nothing Compares

by theempress



Category: Men in Black (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Kidnapping, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-27 14:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19793032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theempress/pseuds/theempress
Summary: H is forced to take an unexpected trip to New York when M goes missing. Being the person who knows her best, and knows how to follow any clues she may have left behind, O calls him in, where he finds himself working with one half of the most memorable duo in the New York office’s history.





	1. Receiving the Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> H receives a call he never thought he would; M's gone missing, and he's expected to report to New York to help find her.

He was running _slightly_ late; the 37 hour day schedule the agency worked on was hell to cope with sometimes when you lived on Earth. H was going through a change in his shift times, after months of working in daylight hours. It had been a struggle for him to get to sleep in the morning, which meant it had been a struggle for him to get himself out of his apartment on time to go to work. It didn’t happen often, but people didn't usually cut you a little slack when you were changing shifts, whether you were the Head of the Agency or not. 

H walks in calmly, deciding it wasn’t worth getting himself worked up. He’d managed to get into the office quickly with the streets being so empty, so he was only just barely two minutes late. A record for him. A self-assured smile graces his face as he smiles at the agent on reception, who tries hard to keep her own face from flushing. He heads for the stairs, and he’s just barely two steps from his office when someone’s already shouting for him.

It’s C.

“H!” He cries, running to get to him. H sighs quietly, pausing with his hand on the doorknob. 

“Is this about the time? I’ve been in the building since-”

“No. I thought I’d give you a bit of warning. O needs to speak to you, and she **didn’t** sound to be in a good mood.” His entire expression changes, from one of confusion to concern. He hadn’t had much communication with O since he took over, apart from during meetings with the heads of each agency. Why would she need to speak to him individually? “Best not to keep her waiting.” With that, C offers him a look of pity, assuming, like H was, that he had done something wrong.

Twisting the doorknob, he’s greeted by a hologram of his equal. (Well, she will be his equal when he finishes his probationary period.) “O!” He says, trying to appear in much more of a chipper mood than he felt. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m afraid you’re not going to like it.” She tells him, gesturing for him to take a seat in his office chair. He does so, and O sits down on her end. “I’m aware that you have important business to conduct in London, but- well, I wouldn’t call you at this time if it wasn’t an emergency.” She begins, grabbing a tablet and projecting an image in front of him. “It’s about Agent M.”

All she has to do is say the name, and H feels a tingle in his stomach, and a warm rush through his body. O’s face was solemn, like she was about to deliver bad news, and it makes his serious mask begin to crumble a little; he’s concerned for her. “What’s wrong with M?” 

“She’s been taken.” 

It’s like the world has begun to fall around him. H isn’t sure how it could happen; she was a smart agent. She had saved his own skin on a couple of occasions during the period they’d worked together. The last time they’d spoken had been over a call like this, a couple of days ago. He’d truly call her one of his closest friends, which is what he uses to explain away the ache in his chest upon finding out this information.

“Taken? What by? Who did it? What is being done to get her back?” He stands from his chair, and O gives him a look. He remains standing for a few moments longer, before H sits down again. It would do no good getting upset or flustered.

“We aren’t sure who by yet. She was on a mission when it occurred. It happened faster than anyone else on the op could do anything about. That’s the reason I’m calling you.” H furrows his brows, sitting further forward in his chair. “We want you to come to New York. You know what she’s like. You may be able to pick up on something we missed in order to track her down.” He understands now. A weak smile is on his face; it’s almost as though it pains him to smile at all.

“And what of everything I have to do here in London?” He questions, sitting back now. He’s planning to go, but he has to make it look as though he plans to protest; he is still on probation in this position, after all.

“We’ll take care of it. I’m sending over one of my best agents to head the office in your absence.” Another figure moves into the hologram; H recognises him, but for what reason he doesn’t know. “I don’t believe you two have met. H, this is Agent K.” H’s eyes widen. He understands why the man had seemed so familiar now; his face was on the wall of his office, along with Agent J, for their work in the Bug invasion. 

“If you weren’t a hologram, I’d shake your hand.” He jokes, smiling at the senior agent as he stands. K says nothing, merely staring intensely into his eyes. He looks back to O, who seems to have an amused smile on her face. “I feel confident leaving the office in your hands.” He adds, as O stands.

“There’s a train leaving for New York in an hour and a half. Is that enough time for you to get everything in order?” He nods. 

“I’ll try and make an earlier one if I can.” H looks back to K, who’s still continuing to stare. “I’ll see you when I get there, O.” She nods, and presses a button, causing the two holograms to disappear. The second he’s sure that communication has been fully severed, H practically falls into his seat, putting his head in his hands as he thinks about M. _Poor Molly_. 

An hour later, he’s at the underground station, waiting for the train. A couple of lower levels agents clock him, confused expressions on their faces as to why their boss appeared to be heading to New York with an overnight bag. He ignores the looks, and focuses on what awaits him; the search for his partner, and more importantly, his friend. Tucked into his pocket is Pawny, sleeping soundly, who refused to stay behind when he heard of the danger to his Queen. 

H was somewhat grateful, not just for the company, but for someone who cared about M as much as he did. They had a better chance of finding her together. 

He just hopes they aren’t too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this fic! This chapter's a little short, but it's just to set up the general concept and the narrative. If you'd like to see more of it, please feel free to comment on this chapter, drop me a message, or even just leave kudos. I love feedback for my writing. Thanks again!


	2. Getting Down to Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> O fills H in on everything they know about what happened to M, and H finds himself meeting another person he'd looked up to in his early days at the agency.

The journey to New York wasn’t too unpleasant for H. After all, it was a matter of minutes before he arrived at his destination, but with lack of sleep from the night before, he’s wishing the journey was a little longer. Pawny’s still slumbering soundly in his pocket as he steps off the train, overnight back slung over his shoulder. To his surprise, O is waiting for on the platform. He smiles at her, and offers her his hand to shake. “Told you I’d make it early.” O laughs.

“Your temporary replacement is already on his way over. If you come up to my office, I’ll brief you on everything we know so far.” There’s a few people on the platform, aliens and agents alike, but no one seems to be interested in their conversation. _Good_. 

H had never been to the New York office, and the first thing that surprises him is how _different_ it is to the London office. He’d have thought they would hold more similarities, but he supposes the American agency came first; it would make sense that theirs would be bigger. _It is the American way_. He thinks to himself, smirking. 

Passport control was much busier than he assumed it would be; he spots Jababians, Neebles, and a couple of more humanoid looking aliens passing through. That was the thing about running on a 37 hour day; no matter what time you passed through an MiB headquarters, it seemed to be incredibly busy. “Most people are coming in to see the American celebrations of the Fourth of July.” O explains, as though reading his mind. 

“I forgot that was a holiday here.” He says with a laugh, checking his watch for the date. _2nd of July_. “With any luck, I’ll be gone before it happens.” _For Molly’s sake_. O says nothing, and simply keeps walking to her office. Something about her lack of reaction causes a sick feeling in H’s stomach, and he wishes he could be here under different circumstances, such as simply visiting his friend rather than here to find out what had happened to her.

When H enters O’s office, he’s surprised by the sight of another man in a suit, already seated in one of the empty chairs in front of her desk. He looks to O, who gestures for him to sit. He thinks to protest, but after a couple of moments decides against it, and takes a seat. O is the last to sit, and when she does, she brings up a holographic diagram of the location M had gone missing. “Agent J, thank you for waiting. This is H, he’s head of the London office. He was M’s partner on her first mission.” She explains, and for the second time this evening, he’s having to stop himself from being shocked as he turns to the man next to him. He offers J a hand to shake, and to his relief, J takes it, smiling.

“It’s good to meet you, J.” 

“Likewise.”

“You’ll be working together on this case.” O interjects before anything else can be said, and H immediately drops his hand, looking back to O. 

“I prefer working alone.” Working with M had been a rare occurrence, one that he didn’t intend to repeat just because she was missing, even if the other agent had done a great deal for the planet.

“Tough. You’re working together, whether you like it or not. It’s going to need both of you on this, and you’ll see why in a moment.” O pushes a few buttons on her keyboard, and brings up a security photo. Front and centre in the photo is M, just as he remembered her, though her hair did seem to be a little longer. She wasn’t in her MiB uniform, and it’s an area he doesn’t recognise. J, who had been somewhat annoyed by H’s reaction to the fact that they’d be pairing up, sits up in his seat, recognising it immediately.

“Is that the East Village?” O nods, and J simply smirks. H frowns, expecting an explanation which isn’t given. He’ll find out later.

“She was tracking a piece of technology which had been stolen from an alien resident by a human earlier in the day. Case of a thief taking the wrong person’s bag.” O presses a button, and the picture becomes a video, moving. H’s heart sinks as he watches M, weaving through people and searching for her target. The fact that he knows what’s going to happen makes it worse. 

She moves further up the street, to an area where there aren’t any people, then all of the sudden, she vanishes completely. H stands up from his chair, shocked. “Was there a problem with the camera? That can’t be it, _surely_ -” Before he can finish his sentence, O’s already bringing up the images from another security camera. The view is closer to M this time, he can see her face a little more clearly, and it makes him smile. He’d missed that face. When she disappears again, the exact same instant in the new feed, he returns to his seat, brows knitted together with concern. There had to be a reasonable explanation; while they were trained to expect the unexpected in their job, people didn’t just vanish into thin air. While alien technology was considerably more advanced than Earth’s, it wasn’t possible to do that without leaving some trace of what was happening.

“And that’s it? Nothing on the comms, no word on her tracker?” J queries, and O simply shakes her head.

“Everything simple you could think of, we’ve tried. We’ve cordoned off the area, ready for you two to go and investigate. Luckily, the street she disappeared on is relatively quiet.” H nods, eyes searching every inch of the paused security footage for some kind of clue. It yields nothing so far, and he suspects that MiB’s top analysts are already searching it.

“Thank you for bringing me in.” Is the next thing he can think to say. “M is a good friend of mine, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to take the lead on this case.” He turns his head slightly and finds their portrait up on the wall, next to the one of J and K. He turns back to J, who seems to be in thought, before returning his attention to O, who doesn’t look to be believing him.

“You two had better be off, we don’t want anyone accidentally wandering in and moving potential evidence.” H nods, and stands from his chair almost in sync with J. It causes him to chuckle, and they exit O’s Office together.

“Which way is it to the garage?” H asks, looking around for a sign, perhaps. J stops him quickly.

“Look, before we go there, I want to get one thing straight; you may be the senior agent, but this is my turf, and my car.” J cautions, and H pauses, trying not to laugh. While his plans had been _exactly_ as J suspected, he opts to **not** do that now.

“You drive.” He says softly, and there’s a moment of silence between them, before J continues walking.

“Garage is this way.” He calls over his shoulder, and H begins to follow him. As they weave through the corridors of the headquarters, a burning question about an encounter earlier in the day makes itself known. _Is it rude to ask that?_ He considers, but he decides against his better judgement to ask anyway.

“Is K always that quiet?”

J begins to laugh, hard. “So you met him before he went to New York?”

“He was there for the holocall I had with O this morning.” J starts laughing again. “What’s so funny?”

“Don’t worry about it, man. You got the full ‘K experience’.” He jokes, shaking his head slightly. “He’s always like that. Don’t take it personally. Just takes a little time to warm up to you.” J pauses, before stopping to look at H. “He was the one who recruited me.” And just like that, H somewhat understands the laughter. They’ve known each other for years, worked together for the same amount of time.

“I’m relieved.” He says, smiling, and J starts walking again. “And I have to say, I was even more relieved when you spoke back to me.” J laughs again, and types in the code on the door they’ve approached. The doors slide open, and they’ve finally made it to the MiB parking garage.

“So what’s the relationship like between you and M?” The question catches H off guard, and he finds it hard to compose himself before answering. “O didn’t seem to buy into your little speech.” 

“We’re just friends!” He exclaims, a nervous look on his face as he attempts to walk slightly ahead of J, so he can’t catch the expression. “You know how it is. You save the world with someone, and you get close.” J pulls out a keyfob and presses a button. Seconds later, the car comes surging forward, and is waiting patiently just next to them. J’s eyes never leave H, giving a look similar to one his partner had worn.

“Sure. You can tell me all about it on the way to the location.” He resolves, getting in the driver’s side door, much to H’s dismay. He gets into the passenger’s seat, needing a moment to adjust to the fact that the car was the opposite way around to what he was used to. 

“There’s _really_ not much to tell.” H says as he pulls the car door shut behind him. “I haven’t even seen her since she returned to New York.”

“Mm-hmm.” J rolls his eyes, and pulls out of the parking lot. “Better get your story straight for when we do find her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Thanks for reading this chapter, it's a bit longer than the first chapter, so we're getting there. What do you guys think of the story so far? Any thoughts on what you believe might have happened to M? And how about the (perhaps not so) surprising appearance of Agent J! In all seriousness, the Men in Black films have had a special place in my heart for years, and the new film has reawakened that love for them. I'd seriously appreciate thoughts on how you think I'm doing with the voices of the characters. See you soon with Chapter 3!


	3. The Investigation Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> H and J are on the case, searching for the cause behind M's mysterious disappearance.

“So what’s East Village?” J looks over to H upon hearing the question, a smile forming on his face. H is looking out of the window, taking in everything they pass as they drive. While H has been to plenty of places on the job, he’s never made it as far across the globe as America. He’s trying to keep an air of  _ professionalism  _ while in the car, but inwardly, it’s as though he’s a child on holiday to America for the first time.

“Have you got a neighbourhood in London where the people are so strange the aliens just blend in?” 

“You mean like Shoreditch?” J begins to nod.

“East Village is our Shoreditch.” It brings a smile to H’s face, and he can’t help but shake his head. The idea that each office had their own little place, full of strange people where aliens could move freely without being seen as odd makes him laugh. The comparison almost makes H forget the reason he’s here, and it brings his mood up tenfold. He’d been full of nerves about the evidence that may greet him when he arrived at the scene of M’s last sighting. 

“Good to know that’s a universal thing.” He finally says, looking over to J. His temporary partner is simply smiling, eyes on the road. 

“So go on then, how’d you and M save the world? O never told me the story.” A pit forms in H’s stomach, and the smile quickly falls off of his face. Memories of that night are  **much** clearer than the first time he’d saved the world, for good reason, but it’s muddled with emotions. The loss of High T, the last time he’d seen and properly communicated with M, and of course, the night of his promotion to Head of the London office. He still hasn’t worked out in his head how he feels about the night as a whole.

“Have you heard of the Hive?” His voice is almost breaking when he asks the question, so H clears his throat loudly. “Sorry, not really had anything to drink in a couple of hours.” He says, shifting in his seat a little too fast and causing the seat belt to catch against his neck. He coughs, and J raises an eyebrow, looking over to H out of the corner of his eye.

“Are you okay?” A pause. “Do you need us to stop for a drink?” H shakes his head. When he’s certain they won’t be needing to make any emergency stops, J returns his attention to the world. “Heard of the Hive, but didn’t know much. I remember it was based in Europe, and therefore not really a concern for our office.” H smirks, shaking his head. They all knew as much as they were required to know to run their own individual offices, and anything else didn’t fall within their responsibilities. There were plenty of things about big New York cases that he’d never been privy to the details of before. 

“It was a race that had the ability to take over other aliens. It would infect you, then possess you from the inside out, using you to do whatever it needed. It went from planet to planet, slowly devouring every race in its path.” H looks down to his hands, trying to keep himself as composed when talking about the matter as he had been trained to. “It set its eyes on Earth, and regrettably, a high level agent had become infected.” It was one of the first things the other heads had told him upon him starting his new position; no one can know that High T was a traitor.  _ It would ruin the morale of the agency globally, not just in London _ . He supposes this applies even to J. “It wasn’t picked up on until it was almost too late. M and I managed to put an end to the Hive, and High T was killed in the process.” The official story. He looks back up, eyes sticking to the road. The words  _ he was like a father to me _ ring through H’s ears, and he looks back to J, forcing himself to smile. J remains silent initially.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” He finally says, and H looks confused. “I know what it’s like losing someone you were close to.” H shakes his head, beginning to protest, but J cuts him off. “Man, you’re like an open book. And you’re the head of London?” The two men find themselves laughing. “Might wanna take a leaf from K’s book.” J’s attention suddenly returns to the road, and pulls over. “We’re here.”

H had completely forgotten. He’d been so focused on the conversation he was having with J that he became distracted from the real reason they were here; to get his friend back. He unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the car quickly, pushing the door closed and walking through the crowds of people. It’s a busy street; how could someone just go missing, just vanish into thin air without anyone so much as blinking an eye?

_ This is New York _ . Much like London, it had a reputation for holding inhabitants who were alarmingly unsurprised by a great deal of strange behaviours. One day soon, he’s sure of it, the world would become fully aware of the fact that aliens existed, and the people who’d find it easiest to adjust would be those who lived in the capitals. “Which way was it?” H asks, and J gestures for him to follow. By luck, they’ve managed to be able to get close to the location with a car. 

“It’s just up ahead. When we get to the barrier, make sure people aren’t looking before you walk through. We want to make sure people don’t see. Had enough problems with that, and the protocols only got stricter after your friend tracked down our headquarters.” J states gruffly.

“What?” 

“Didn’t you know?” There’s a pause between the two of them as they reach the barrier. They both double check, then walk through. “Agent M tracked us down. She wasn’t recruited. That’s why she was put straight on probation.” H begins to laugh, hard. That sounded exactly like something Molly would do. “She set up this whole system to track down aliens, came to the crash site, walked through the barrier, then tracked us back to base.” H is smiling widely to himself the whole time J tells this story. “And you’re absolutely  _ sure  _ you’re just friends?” H shoots him a look, and J heads off in the opposite direction, trying to hide his laughter. 

H pulls his glasses out of his pocket and begins to search the surrounding area. It looked as though it had been thoroughly wiped down and cleared of any clues intentionally. Someone knew that Men in Black would be looking around afterwards, and they’d tried their hardest to conceal it. That means that the kidnapping wasn’t just a fluke; they knew exactly who M was, despite the fact that she was in civilian clothing. It makes the butterflies in H’s stomach become more violent again. He’s fearful for her safety, and while he doesn’t want to admit it, fearful of the condition he’ll find her in.

There’s a couple of other agents within the scene, some scanning the exact spot she’d disappeared from, the rest scanning the perimeter of the area. It makes his heart ache when he sees a pair of glasses, dropped on the floor. H knows immediately that they’re hers; they have to be. One of the agents takes a picture of the spot, then another picks up the glasses with a bag. They’ll go back to headquarters for evaluation. He approaches slowly, looking intensely at the area himself. There’s no footprints, no marks on the ground whatsoever. All there had been was the pair of MiB issue sunglasses on the ground, as though she’d brought them out in an attempt to neuralyze whoever had captured her.

_ Molly _ .

He can’t bring himself to look at the spot any more. It’s not doing him any good; it’s not like he’ll find something the other agents haven’t. H moves away, retreating to the outer corners of the area, where a collection of dumpsters are propped against the wall. He starts looking around them, peering in them, searching for some clue that might tell him where Molly could be found. He’s close to giving up hope, determined that her kidnappers have done too good of a job with the clean up, when his glasses pick up something shiny in one of the dumpsters.

_ That shouldn’t be there _ . He thinks to himself, beginning to reach into the dumpster. The first thing that hits him when his face gets within a foot of the garbage is the smell. It smells rotten, and makes him want to throw up. The next thing he realises is the fact that it looks to have been disturbed recently; bin bags are torn open, spilling their contents on top of the shiny object at the bottom of the bin. A grimace on his face, he brushes off all of the food and general waste, trying hard not to wretch.  _ Remember, Henry, you’ve smelled aliens who were worse than this _ . He finally gets a grab on the shiny object, nearly falling in in the progress, and when he holds it up high above his head, he’s grinning. “I found something!” He announces triumphantly, and J comes running over. The other agents who had been there when he arrived have all gone, finishing their duties long before the ever observant H started his investigation. “What do you think it is?” He questions quietly, holding it in his fellow agent’s direction. 

“Whatever it is, I need you to get it out of my face. It smells nasty.” J quips, taking two steps back. “And I’m gonna need you to change your suit before getting in the car again.” H sighs loudly, looking more closely at the device. 

“Hey! What about me?” A small voice comes from behind them. J nearly jumps out of his skin, pulling his gun out of his holster and pointing inside the dumpster. H is initially startled, before he realises exactly why he recognises the voice;  _ Pawny _ . 

“Don’t shoot!” He calls out, quickly reaching into the dumpster with his other hand, and searching for his small friend. He finds him at the bottom, glaring up at him. 

“Nice going, pretty boy.” He grumbles as H places him back into his pocket. “I landed face first into the mush, all because you forgot I was in your pocket before you went diving in trash.”

J is staring at H, mouth agape as the small alien makes himself at home in H’s pocket again. “What in the hell is that thing?”

“This is Pawny, he’s- well, he’s a pawn. He pledged allegiance to M in Morocco, and I brought him along with me.”

“How come he wasn’t with h-”

“Babysitting the jackass.” Pawny announces proudly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, just because idiot here is on a new time zone doesn’t mean I am.” And with that, he disappears back inside H’s pocket, and starts slumbering softly not long after. While J’s still recovering from the shock, H’s attention returns to the device from the dumpster.

It looked to be a shoddily thrown together piece of technology, with a single button on the side. H frowns, looking for some other clue as to what it may do, and decides pressing the button is his best shot. Initially, J misses what he’s doing; he’s still staring at the other man’s pocket, waiting for the pawn to pop back out. When he sees movement, he finally looks back to H. “Hey, what are you doing?” J goes to slap it out of his hands, but H is faster. 

“We’ll never find out what it is if we don’t try it!” The device begins whirring, and H notices the area around them seems to be shimmering. He puts his other hand through it, and finds that it acts similar to the barriers they use to keep the public out. Both agents eyes widen, and J pushes his glasses up on top of his head. “Someone’s been replicating MiB technology.” H realises with a shock. 

J sighs, bringing a hand to up to rub his temple. “And I have a feeling I know exactly who.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks go to my beta reader, Jo, for reading this chapter and the previous one before I posted. So many mistakes would have flown under the radar were it not for her! Thanks also go to all of you guys, because it was the positive reaction I received from the last chapter that made me write a whole new one in a day xD hope you enjoy this one!


	4. Following Up Leads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> H and J return to base to brief O on what they've found, and once the briefing is over, they go to visit a familiar face.

Much to J’s initial disgust, H gets in the car without changing. He manages to make it back to base much quicker than it had taken for them to get to the location. “It’s because of the traffic.” He insists, but H knows; the smell makes _him_ nauseous too. 

The reaction doesn’t get any better when he gets inside the office; the poor junior agent in the elevator with them looked as though he was about to faint, while his coworker stifled laughter at his reaction. H shot them both smiles, and when the door opens, J promptly escorts him out of the main area of the building. H could see O in her office, looking down at them and expecting an update, but J looks up to her, and mouths something along the lines of _I’ll explain later_ before they disappear in the men’s locker room. J had carried in H’s bag, and he throws it to him after pushing H in the direction of the showers. “And don’t come out till the smell is gone!”

He laughs, throwing the bag on the ground and heading immediately for the sink to wash his hands. H then reaches into his pocket and takes out Pawny, who seems to have cleaned himself off using the inside of the pocket. Suit _definitely_ needs a wash now. He’d brought a couple of spares with him, but he has no doubt that if it comes down to it, there’ll be some knocking around the New York office.

* * *

Roughly twenty minutes later, H is out of the shower and beginning to get suited again, feeling much better for it. He feels more alert, and much happier for having had the shower. It had given him some time to think about what they’d found, and what it might mean for M. What would someone want with her? It makes no sense to him. While she may be a full agent now, she was still just a junior agent. She had restricted access to the system, so it wasn’t as though she knew the deepest and darkest secrets they held. 

Then again, he had remembered her mentioning offhandedly the fact that she had training in hacking. Was it possible she’d managed to bypass the security on the Men in Black systems? They prided themselves on the fact that their technology was so much more advanced, but if M had found a way around it, and been doing some research on things she shouldn’t, perhaps she’d uncovered something big. The technology they’d found in the dumpster was originally devised by the Men in Black after all, even if that wasn’t a standard issue version of it. Maybe someone had been working on their own version of it to cover up something M had uncovered.

H pauses, pulling on his trousers. Was it possible that M had been the person to make the device? Sure, it was crudely done, but she most definitely had the skills. He’d never forgotten the way she’d worked on repairing the bike in the desert. She’d worked on it fast, with little experience dealing with the technology. It was possible that, after several months of working at MiB, she’d developed her own version of the cloaking technology for investigating things that piqued her interest, but that didn’t sound like Molly. It’s then that he has a realisation, and H frowns, buttoning the trousers up. _No, that sounds exactly like Molly_. 

“If you’ve done this on purpose…” He whispers aloud, quickly looking around the changing room to ensure he was still alone. His only company was Pawny, who was busy rinsing off under one of the taps in the sink. H doesn’t even want to finish the sentence. Sure, it sounds like something she’d do; there were plenty of films where the plot usually revolved around getting caught intentionally just to get the answer out of someone, but those things never usually turned out as well in real life. He pulls on his shirt and begins buttoning it up, before running his towel through his hair one last time and opting to get going. They had to work fast; she’d already been missing for a couple hours, and H wasn’t entirely sure what the statistics were like for agents being kidnapped by aliens. All he knows is that he doesn’t want to leave her there any longer than she had to be.

When he’s finished dressing, he re-packs his bag, placing it in a temporary locker, and collects Pawny from the sink, placing him back in his top pocket. “You’re going to have to be quiet in the meeting. I’m not entirely sure if O knows about you.” His companion greets him with a glare, but mimes the motion of zipping his lips shut. _Good_. H exits the changing rooms finally and heads for O’s office, nervous about what information he may be about to receive.

* * *

Both men are seated across from O, and a silence fills the room. Her gaze moves from one to the other, before she finally breaks it. “I trust there’s a reason H was thrust into the changing rooms, Agent J?” H smirks at O’s question, slightly amused.

“I don’t think you would’ve wanted him in here, smelling the way he smelled.” He comments, a slight grimace on his face as he adjusts in his seat. It’s clear he’s biting back saying something about the car. H’s smirk only grows a little bigger. 

“I would’ve rather had an update on the case. What did you find?” Both men straighten up; they’re in work mode now, completely focused. All hints of humour and disgust have disappeared from the room without a trace. 

“We didn’t find much, but we did find something after all the other agents had gone. Someone stashed something in a dumpster.” J explains, placing the device on the table. Upon discovering what it did, they’d bagged it in the hopes that they could find some hint as to where it had come from. 

“It acts the same way as our cloaking devices. Looks like someone threw one together rather clumsily.” H continues, gesturing to the button on the side. “I can’t think of anyone who would have access to our tech in order to rebuild it like that.” He’s still doubting whether or not Molly would’ve done this. There’s every chance that she’s in real danger, unintentionally. 

“I do.” J states, looking to O. She raises an eyebrow, looking between the agents, then gesturing to J to share his information. “Jack Jeebs. He’s a Skook, works as a pawn shop dealer. Sells fake goods to humans, and black market weaponry and downgraded Men in Black technology to aliens. He made his own version of a deneuralyzer when plans got leaked on the internet a while back. If there’s anyone likely to be involved in something like this, it’s him.”

H frowns. This was a problem in America? Leaks of the plans to covert technology? He opts not to say what he’s thinking in that moment. “Then what are we doing here? We should be going to look for him.” He says, reaching for the device. 

“Not so fast, H.” O puts a hand on top of the device, pulling it closer to her. “This needs processing. You’re both free to go interrogate him, however, if you don’t want to wait.” H is already on his feet, not needing to wait for O to give him permission. He’s already made it to the door before J’s even stood, quickly following after his partner.

“It was this way to the garage, wasn’t it?” He’s more certain this time, leading the way as J trails behind. 

“Hey, what are you doing? You don’t even know where to go!” J shouts after him.

“And what makes you so certain?” H questions, finally turning to face him.

“Because you missed the first turn.”

* * *

When they arrive at the pawn shop, H has already been briefed on everything he needs to know. “Remember, let me handle the talking. He knows me, he knows I mean business, and he’ll give us the answers we need.” While H is nodding, his hand is on his gun; after all, the man was a Skook. It’s not like it wouldn’t grow back if he needed a little help towards the right thing.

The more time passed, the more H began to grow worried about Molly. It was almost like there was this constant dull ache in his chest, this sensation of sorrow that he couldn’t dismiss. They’d been close, and he’d come to be much more fond of her than he had been of anyone for a long time, but why was he feeling like _this_? He’s brought back to his senses and reality when J pushes open the door to the pawn shop. He follows quickly, shutting the door and flipping the sign on it to say _Closed_.

“J?” The man behind the counter looks immediately panicked. “What are you doing here?” A silence follows as he inspects H. “And where’s K? Retired again?”

“On another assignment. But I get the feeling you know why we’re here, Jeebs.” J replied, placing both hands on the counter and leaning closer. “We were at a crime scene today, and happened to come across a piece of technology. Looked a little shit, but wouldn’t you know, it did the _exact_ same thing that our perimeter cloaking devices do. Isn’t that a coincidence Jeebs? And so I said to my man here, H, ‘I can only think of one guy in all of New York that this piece of crap might belong to’, and here we are! So what do you say, sound like something you’ve done?” He questions, leaning in a little further.

“Oh, no, I got out of that game years ago, J. Promise. What you see is all I sell.” He holds his hands up in surrender, moving further away from the counter, but H doesn’t believe him. “So both of you can go and look somewhere else. It wasn’t me.” He’s turning to head down in the basement, and J sighs loudly.

“I don’t wanna do this, Jeebs, but if I have to I will.” J reaches to pull out his gun, but H’s hand had never left his. It’s out, and pointed squarely at the Skook. “And uh, I wouldn’t test my partner here. That little device of yours has caused enough trouble to bring him over from England.” Jeebs’s hands are still up, and he’s stopped moving towards the door. Silence returns to the shop, with neither of them moving. Finally, he can’t handle the stalemate any more; Jeebs reaches for a button on the wall and presses it quickly, causing one of the other displays in the shop to switch. Sure enough, it’s filled with crudely made devices, one of which is identical to the one they’d found at the scene. “All I need now is for you to tell me who you sold this to.” J states, moving over and pointing to the one in question.

“What, you think I keep a log of everyone I sell things to? Do you have any idea how many people and aliens come in and out of this shop on a daily basis? I’m not good with faces, J.” He’s rambling, and J isn’t having it. He shoots a look to H, who’s about to pull the trigger when- “Wait!” H finally lowers his gun. 

“Is there something you’d like to share with us?” H asks, putting his gun back in his holster. “Good choice. Didn’t really want to make a mess.”

“That particular piece is popular. A lot of people buy it. I don’t ask why, I just make and sell ‘em. I’ve got security cameras in the shop. You’re free to watch them.” Jeebs opens the door to the basement, and leads the two agents down.

* * *

It felt like they’d been sat there for hours, searching through footage from the entire week. “Can’t you remember specifically when they’d been sold?” H complains, running a hand through his hair. 

“You try owning a shop that caters to two kinds of clients, see how well you can remember who you sold what to.” He jibes, not looking away from the screens. 

“What my partner means to say is, we’re working on an urgent case. A person’s safety is at risk, so if you can hurry it up-” 

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Jeebs protests, before pointing at the screen. “There, another one! That’s ten so far.” A Jababian. _None of this makes sense_. H thinks, bringing his head to rest in his hands again. All the aliens they’d seen purchasing the device had no logical reason he could conclude as to why they’d want to hurt Molly. J looks to H, and nudges him. 

“You ready to go?” They’re almost at the end of the week in footage. “I got it handled here if you need to go rest. Time zones aren’t kind, even if you’re working on an alien time.” J jokes, reaching into his pocket. He pulls out a car remote, and a key. “O gave this to me when you walked out of her office. Think she said it’s the key to M’s flat, in case you want to look around for something there that might explain what happened.”

H’s eyes are wide from shock, and the idea of getting rest suddenly makes him realise how tired he is. H nods, taking the keys. “My bag’s back at the off-”

“I already took care of it, don’t worry. I’ll see you in the morning.” J says, smiling at him. H finally reluctantly gets to his feet, leaving the shop with sleep filled eyes. He’d continue the search later on, fresh faced. After all, he couldn’t help Molly if he couldn’t focus.


	5. Staying the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> H finds himself in M's flat, and has a startling realisation.

The destination was programmed into the navigational system, meaning all H had to do was sit in the driver’s seat while the car drove itself. Upon arriving at the apartment building, his phone buzzes in his pocket. It makes his heart leap in his chest, and H pulls it out immediately, wondering if it’s her. He’s disappointed just as quickly; it’s from J.  _ Forgot to mention, Flat 5M _ . He chuckles softly, trying to play down his own disappointment as he gets out of the car. “Where are we?” Pawny asks quietly, and H nearly jumps; he’d forgotten about his small companion.

“M’s flat. We’ll be staying here for the night, and looking for any hints as to why someone might have wanted to kidnap her.” H explains, and Pawny sighs. “Problem?” He asks as unlocks the front door of the building. 

“We should be out there looking for her! I can’t lose my Queen.” Pawny protests, and it’s H’s turn to sigh.

“You won’t lose her.” But he has to admit, he isn’t liking the odds. Every time he thinks about the fact that he doesn’t know where she is, or how to help her, it hurts him more.

H eventually finds the right apartment, and lets himself in. It’s smaller than his own back in London, but he supposes that M’s much lower level; he’ll make sure to tease her about it when he gets her back. 

_ When _ .

That’s the way he has to think. If he resigns himself to the fact that he’s never going to see her again, then that becomes his reality, and the more that he thinks about it, H knows he can’t deal with it. He’s wrestled with thoughts about her for months, since she drove him back to London after they saved the world in Paris. She hadn’t caught him, but he’d spent most of the drive watching her, and he’d taken it all in, from the expressions she made in reply to what he said, to the way that she looked so adorable when she laughed, and her smile met her eyes.

H had tried hard to forget the way that he felt in that journey, knowing that he was going to be leaving her, but it lingered in the back of his mind. He’d finally gotten to a point where he’d almost completely forgotten his feelings, but all of this is dragging it all back up again. He’d not seen her since she came back to New York, not even heard from her since then. How was he going to go back to that life he had when he feels something for her he hasn’t felt since Riza?

And there it was. H flicks on the lightswitch, flooding the apartment with light, and his blood almost runs cold as he finally admits to what he’s felt for so long. He feels something for M, and that feeling makes him wish that she felt something for him too. He’s ignored it, pushed past it, denied it so blatantly that now he realises it, the reason for him being here hurts him even more. 

It’s like the wind has been taken from him as he finally steps further into the apartment. He’s trying hard to keep up his normal level of happiness, not wanting Pawny to suspect something is wrong, but H was never a good actor when it came to his genuine thoughts and emotions. 

“What’s up, H?” The agent sighs, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his companion.

“I’m tired, Pawny.” H pauses, searching for a place to sit down. There was a sofa, he’d be sleeping there, and a couple of stools gathered around a table. He opts for sitting there for now. He places Pawny down on the table, and yawns, trying to sell the story. The pawn regards him with suspicion.

“Tired, or missing M?” H finds himself laughing. He’d spent his entire day with people doubting whether he was being completely honest about what he felt for Molly, and every single one of them had been exactly right. He rubs his eyes and shakes his head. 

“I’m just tired! It’s been a long day.” He didn’t expect an argument about it. “And until we figure out what happened to M, I’d like you to stay here tomorrow.”

“But my que-”

“Pawny, if you’re here and she turns up, then you can let me know. I don’t want to have a repeat of the issue with the dumpster today while I’m out looking for her.” Pawny simply glares up at him, before resigning to the fact that H is serious. Pawny won’t be leaving the flat again until M has been found. With that, the small alien begins to look for somewhere to sleep. H stands from his seat, and looks around the flat until he finds the bathroom.

It feels odd to be in her space without her. He feels like he’s invading it, by seeing all of this stuff without her permission, but if the secret to what happened to her lies here, he needs to find it. H changes into his pyjamas quickly, and splashes water on his face before leaving the bathroom. 

Her bedroom door is open, but he doesn’t dare venture further in. All he has to do is survey the room from the door to know that he won’t find what he needs in there. He decides instead to head for the computer in her living room. If he could find something about what she’d been researching, perhaps he’d be able to figure out whether she had intended to be kidnapped or not. 

H sits down at the desk, pulling the chair in, when he hears his phone buzz somewhere in the apartment. Sighing, he gets to his feet and begins searching for it, finding it finally when he reaches into his suit pocket. It’s from O.  _ Results came back from the analysis of the device. They’ve found DNA on it, but it’s corrupted. Trying to retest ASAP. Report to headquarters in the morning _ .

He’d hoped for better news.

H puts his phone back in his pocket, and heads back to the computer. He feels as though all of his energy has been drained. He’d been counting on them finding something to tie it to one of the aliens they’d seen purchasing the device in the shop, which could allow them to track down and question them.

If they had no leads, they had no way of figuring why anyone would want to kidnap Molly, and that scares H. He already feels as though he’s let her down for not getting her out of there the same day. He’s about to decide against looking at her computer and going straight to sleep, when it makes a soft  _ ping _ sound.

H sits down again, pressing some buttons on the keyboard and clicking the mouse until the monitors light up. There’s an alert flashing, someone’s reentering the Earth’s atmosphere. He doesn’t quite recognise where the trajectory says the ship came from, but H gets the feeling it’s important. He’ll have to figure it out tomorrow, however, as his eyes are getting heavier by the second. He has to go to sleep now, otherwise he’ll fall asleep on her desk. H moves to the sofa quickly, picking the blanket that lay on top of it, and falling asleep the second his head is laid down.

His last thought before he falls asleep that night is of finding her. He’s determined to make that happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, two chapters so close together, and a whole other set of one shots for H&M based on songs! I'm in the mood to write today. I adore two idiots in love who don't realise it with my whole damn heart. Can you believe we're halfway through the fic? This chapter is shorter than the previous ones have been, but I promise the next one will be at the usual length again. Hope you enjoy!


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